Forbes—Digitization is the most important megatrend affecting supply chain strategy today. Visibility to both demand and supply has, in the blink of an eye, evolved from a notoriously slow, clunky process of transmitting batch data to a nearly incomprehensible supernova of constant information. Cisco tracks global internet traffic and this flow has grown 300-fold since the turn of the century. Connectivity is everywhere, but it’s not always good.

MHI Blog—Warehouse, distribution and manufacturing facilities can find themselves struggling to protect certain areas within their facility because the area or their situation is not "standard", or is simply too big or complicated to protect. Often with these locations, there isn’t just a single point of entry that needs to be protected such as a doorway, there may also be walls or ceilings that are too high to secure or build permanent or part time barriers onto.

MH&L—Companies urgently need to step up their efforts in one supply chain risk area -- the threats posed by water scarcity, according to Alexis Bateman in the MIT Sloan Management Review. Bateman, citing The Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) 2016 Annual Report of Corporate Water Disclosure, says that disclosing companies reported $14 billion in water-related impacts in 2016, a five-fold increase from 2015.

EBN—If no disruption occurs, the gap between supply and demand is minimal and everything goes well. It works in theory, but if you’ve worked in the supply chain long enough, you already know it often doesn’t translate to real life. Today’s supply chain is still a wide array of siloed steps, designed to take a product from marketing and product development, to manufacturing, distribution, and ultimately into the hands of the end customer. The business goal of the digital supply chain is to deliver products into the customer’s hands faster, while increasing efficiency, cutting costs through automation, and enabling smarter decision-making using internal and external data.

MHI News—Although rates have risen significantly from the historic lows of early 2016, uncertainty for the global container shipping market in 2017 will be uncertain, according to Xeneta, a company that provides market intelligence platform for containerized ocean freight.

Newsweek—Amazon has filed a 33-page patent for a network of subterranean tunnels that would include conveyor belts and vacuum tubes for delivering packages and containers. The company believes this type of system could improve efficiency and reliability of deliveries while reducing traffic on roadways.

Supply Chain Quarterly—To achieve the highest level of benefit from today's available technology for payments and data, companies must embrace blockchain, writes consultant Alexander van Tuyll van Serooskerken. Though commonly thought of as a solution for banks, this technology can enhance importers and exporters by providing faster processing, for example.

SupplyChainBrain—It's hard enough managing supply-chain risk within your own organization. But what about controlling the behavior of critical third parties? The stakes are alarmingly high. According to a survey by Rapid Ratings International Inc., 87 percent of companies experienced a "disruptive incident" with third parties over the past two to three years, with half of those disruptions caused by Tier 1 suppliers. Clearly there’s a need to monitor third parties, especially in the area of supply-chain finance, more closely. But that’s no easy task. Up to 80 percent of third parties are private companies, which tend to conceal their financials from vendors, according to Rapid Ratings chief executive officer James Gellert.

Modern Materials Handling—As manufacturers, distributors and retailers all strive to run efficient operations that not only meet the demands of their traditional businesses, but also support their e-commerce operations, the race is on to develop efficient, optimized warehouses and DCs to support these multifaceted operations. Driven by the sheer volume of products and services being sold online—a whopping $12.8 billion on Black Friday alone in the United States, according to Adobe Digital Insights—everyone wants to capture a slice of the 11.3% of total retail sales that are being transacted virtually, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

U.S. DOT—The U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) announced that it is establishing a new advisory committee focused on automation across a number of modes. The committee, which includes leading professionals and experts in their field, held its first meeting on January 16 to immediately begin work on some of the most pressing and relevant matters facing transportation today, including the development and deployment of automated vehicles, and determining the needs of the Department as it continues with its relevant research, policy, and regulations.

MHI Blog—In addition to creating the four Fundamentals of Warehousing and Distribution textbooks that support educators and enhance curriculum in high schools, community colleges, technical schools, correctional institutions and other training programs, MHI’s Career & Technical Education (CTE) program has a long history of collaborating with other industry associations and organizations to advance professional development and certifications.

Financial Post—The Competition Bureau in Canada placed a $1 million fine on Amazon Canada over misleading pricing claims that the retailer compared its prices to "list prices" when showing savings to buyers. The company, which also will need to pay an additional $100,000 in government costs, did not verify that the list prices it offered consumers were accurate.

Modern Materials Handling—To meet customer’s ever-increasing service expectations and improve their business efficiency, companies are looking to their supply chain operations – especially material handling and warehouse operations managers. In order to achieve these business priorities managers are leveraging additional mobility solutions as well as upgrading their mobile technology.

PC World—Robots should one day have rights as "electronic persons," members of the European Parliament recommended Thursday -- but not until the machines are all fitted with "kill" switches to shut them down in an emergency. Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee wants the European Commission to propose legislation that will settle a number of ethical and liability issues in the field of robotics -- including who is to blame when an autonomous vehicle is involved in a collision.

Bookmark MHIsolutionsmag.com to gain quick access to any and all MHI media and news information. MHI Solutions magazine holds all issues of MHI Solutions and Newswire and Industry News eNewsletters, MHI’s Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin social media accounts as well as links to membership information, events, MHI view and the learning center.